Puerto Rico 2022 - Day 0: The Arrival

Welcome to Spring Break 2022 (Moravian's spring break, anyway). We're on a 5-day trip to the northwest corner of Puerto Rico, just outside Rincón.

We collectively decided on Puerto Rico, back in late December, for several reasons:

• COVID cases were spiking everywhere, and our future ability to get into foreign countries was uncertain
• Being a US territory...
• it isn't international, so would probably still allow entry
• didn't require COVID tests for entry; a vaccine card was sufficient (this actually changed and then changed back again, in the interim)
• doesn't require COVID tests to return home
• It's quite affordable, bordering on cheap
• It's only a 3-hour flight

Sabrina and I were in PR (for a conference) almost exactly two years ago; it was the last trip we took before the pandemic. (We were here just after the large earthquake in January 2020. <insert link to that trip, if I ever post those entries>). We didn't see much outside of San Juan on that trip, however.

Anyway:

Friday after work, we all carpooled to the Philadelphia airport and hopped on an 8 PM flight to San Juan.

Due to a mechanical issue (they had to replace a lightbulb in the tail), we didn't end up taking off until after 9 PM.

With Puerto Rico being +1 hour time change, we were originally going to land just after midnight, which would have given us just enough time to deplane, leave the airport, get the rental car, and get to the boutique hotel before 2 AM (after which the desk is no longer staffed).

Due to the hour-long delay, there was no way we would make it there by 2. As we descended into San Juan, we discussed plans for two people to take an Uber to the hotel while three people went to get the rental car. Thankfully, we got a text right as we landed from the hotel desk.

Here we are around 1:30 AM, outside the airport, calling the rental company for a shuttle ride to their lot.

Puerto Rico is definitely on Island Time (not in a rush); it was almost 2:30 AM by the time we got the Kia squared away.

Around 2:45 AM, we made it to the Village Inn hotel. If we hadn't had that 1-hour delay, we would've just made it before 2.

We crept in quietly, to not disturb any other guests.

Because we were only going to be here for for about 8 hours, we opted for the "family room".

In the morning, we'll mosey across the island to the west coast, stopping somewhere for provisions.

Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 8: da Conch Shack, return home

After breakfast, we filled out our COVID attestation forms on the veranda. These turned out to be useless, as JetBlue now requires passengers to use their online form, instead; this apparently changed during the last week.

 

We got to enjoy one last beautiful morning overlooking the ocean, before packing up and leaving around 11:30. Our flight wasn't until 5:45 PM, so we had a few hours left on Providenciales.

First, we went back to the Grace Bay area and wandered the shops in the Salt Mills area. The sun was hot, but I couldn't resist a coffee and a custom-built donut.

A few blocks from the Salt Mills, there are a few restaurants/bars with a bit more character than the high-end shopping district. 

On the drive out of the Grace Bay area, we encountered a tour group on ATVs and three-wheel scooter things.

On the way back towards the middle of the island, we took a detour down the scenic road to the end of Turtle Tail.

At the end of the road, there's a small area with a view over half of the island, which doesn't require much elevation since everything here is so flat.

Having completed our shopping and sightseeing before 1 PM, we decided to spend our last afternoon at da Conch Shack. We had dinner here, almost 4 years ago... it hasn't changed much; the white fence is new, and the bushes are bigger.

It wasn't crowded, so we nearly had the beach to ourselves for a light lunch (and a few drinks).

One of the activities that we saw advertised was horseback riding at the beach, offered in several different areas of the island. I'm guessing this one was Unique tours and rentals. We happened to have front row seats to their afternoon tour, today.

I guess da Conch Shack is the end of the tour, because the tour guide gave a brief talk about the place, then they turned around in the water and headed back down the beach.

The weather was perfect, and we were only about five minutes from the airport, so we stayed for almost 2 hours.

On the way to returning the rental car to Avis, I stopped to fill up on $6/gallon gas. We got a very short shuttle ride over to the airport, where there was absolutely no line for security.

Other than the aforementioned need to fill out the online attestation form for JetBlue, we breezed through to the single-terminal departure area, which has maybe 4 or 5 gates.

Having maybe 45 minutes to kill, we perused the gift shops, and headed to the upstairs waiting area to watch the sunset one last time.

The upstairs section was literally empty, with a handful of people having drinks at the (very loud) outdoor bar area.

We weren't scheduled to land until 9:30 PM; I was looking forward to eating two slices of leftover pizza during the flight. I checked to make sure they hadn't been damaged beyond repair, during transit, in case I had to make do with something from the "cafe" instead.

Just as dusk approached, we went outside to board the plane. The flight home was even more empty than our arrival. I forgot to ask how many passengers there were, but I'd guess maybe 40.

By the time we landed, waited for our gate to be available, cleared immigration/customs (not terrible, for once), dropped Lauren off, and got to Jeanne and Rudy's house, it was 11 PM.

It had just started raining, and we drove through some very heavy storms on the drive back to PA, getting home around midnight.

Time to start planning for next year, now. It's going to be hard to top Turks and Caicos for Christmas, though.

Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 7: COVID tests, Grace Bay beach

As promised, we were up before dawn this morning, to go watch the sunrise at Long Bay Beach. (I had scouted out another potential location, last night, but it turned out to be unsuitable.)

We left the house at 5:45 AM, drove about 10 minutes southeast, and walked a short trail to the beach. Lauren declined to join us. It was already twilight when we got there. 

There were some lounge chairs, reserved for guests of the resort near where we parked, but we figured nobody would mind at 6 AM.

The water was strangely calm, at that hour. Last time we were here, the wind was ridiculous, and the beach was full of kiteboarders.

As the sun rose, around 6:25 AM, a lone pelican flew by. Also, a few people were out jogging on the beach already.

After about 40 minutes at the beach, we followed the path back to the small parking lot (which is paved, unlike last time we were here), and drove home via the scenic route, along the coast for a bit.

Back at the house, we cooked up a large breakfast and ate on the veranda, as was now a habit.

I think we were done eating by 9 AM, which meant we had ample time for a nap before we had to go out again, to get COVID tests.

Our testing appointments were at 10:30, and we didn't have to wait very long, despite the clinic being rather busy. They were on a modified (shortened) schedule for the holiday weekend, which certainly didn't help.

While we waited for our rapid test results, we wandered up the street and browsed around a souvenir shop. I briefly considered getting a new, wide-brimmed hat, but I couldn't find one that was anywhere near the quality of my lost Tilley.

After getting all of our (negative) test results back, we celebrated by going to the beach.

Similar to yesterday, we found a public parking area near a beach bar/restaurant, by the Flamingo Cafe AKA Ricky's On The Beach.

It was just after 11:30 AM when we arrived, and the beach in this area was mostly empty.

Happily, there was a woman offering chairs and umbrellas for rent, so I negotiated a sweet deal (by which I mean I pointed at two chairs next to an umbrella, inquired about the price, and paid what she was asking).

We spent a solid 4.5 hours there today, watching tour boats come and go (some discharging/loading passengers directly on the beach), swimming, sunning, reading, napping, etc.

Ricky's/Flamingo was out of piña colada mix, but they had guava daiquiris and coladas, which I hadn't seen elsewhere. 

By far, the most appealing tour boat was the floating tiki bar. Its seaworthiness, however, was an open question. If you zoom in, you might be able to see the nylon ratchet straps holding the extra pontoons onto the sides.

Some time after 4, as the sun began to set once again, we packed up and returned to the house for more wildberry/pomegranate daiquiris.

We hadn't really eaten lunch, which was fine because we had a 6:30 dinner reservation at Baci. (After dinner on Christmas Eve, when we were walking along the boardwalk around Turtle Cove marina, we sort of stumbled upon this restaurant. A drunk man from New Jersey assured us it was excellent, and persuaded us to make the reservation for tonight. It's sort of a long story.)

The food was excellent. There were a few cats wandering around the restaurant, which was essentially outside, but under a roof.

Tomorrow, we'll pack up and check out of the Airbnb, then wander around the island for most of the day before heading to the airport in the afternoon.